September 1917 – F.O. Dry and E.W. Ridenhour found Stanly Damp Laundry in Albemarle, NC
February 1922 – F.O. Dry purchases E.W. Ridenhour’s share of the business and changes the name to Dun-Rite Laundry
1927 – Dun-Rite moves to a new building on Pee Dee Avenue in Albemarle and invests in large steam-powered presses to offer commercial linen services
1931 – A new, safer dry cleaning technology becomes available, and Dun-Rite invests in one of the first dry cleaning machines in the Southeast to further expand cleaning services
October 1956 – Business is incorporated as Dun-Rite Laundry & Cleaners
1962 – Dun-Rite expands into residential and commercial cleaning and creates a separate property cleaning division
1965 – Dun-Rite’s restoration division is started to assist customers with fire, smoke, and water damage emergencies
1967 – Dun-Rite relocates to a specially-designed, state-of-the art facility at 1223 Pee Dee Avenue in Albemarle
1980 – Dun-Rite becomes one of the first dry cleaners in North Carolina to invest in a new, environmentally-friendly dry cleaning technology that is still the safest method of immersion dry cleaning today
1983 – Dun-Rite begins its hanger recycling program to reduce cleaning-related landfill waste
1985 – Dun-Rite Carpet Care is started to serve the carpet and upholstery cleaning needs of customers
1986 – Mark Dry becomes one of the first cleaning professionals nationwide to complete the rigorous training for and be awarded the Certified Professional Drycleaner and Certified Environmental Drycleaner designations by the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute
1987 – Dun-Rite expands its restoration offerings to include mold remediation and odor control services
1991 – Dun-Rite starts it annual Coats For Kids program that has become a local community service tradition
1998 – Dun-Rite rebrands itself as Dun-Rite Cleaners to better reflect the range of services offered
2003 – Dun-Rite invests in new, state-of-the-art dry cleaning equipment that reclaims, filters, and recycles dry cleaning fluid in a closed-loop system that generates no waste
2006 – Dun-Rite invests in new disaster estimating software for its restoration division to simplify the insurance claims process for customers
2007 – Dun-Rite opens its first drop-off/pick-up location in the West Main Plaza shopping center in Locust, NC
2008 – Dun-Rite invests in new dry cleaning management software to improve efficiency and track customer orders in real time
2011– Dun-Rite reorganizes into five operating divisions to more efficiently serve new and existing customers: Dun-Rite Cleaners, Dun-Rite Carpet Care, Dun-Rite Restoration, Dun-Rite Professional Services, and Dun-Rite Commercial Services
